


The Weeping Point Murder

by NightWinds



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Alternative Universe - FBI, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Minor Character Death, Undercover, inspired by Keddie Cabin murders
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-05-26 15:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15003938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightWinds/pseuds/NightWinds
Summary: Ryan and Shane go undercover in order to solve the gruesome murder of eight residents in Pinepark, a small town of forty-seven.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I think "Way Down We Go" by Kaleo is a good song to set the mood of this story, give it a listen if you want :)
> 
> Feedback is always appreciated!
> 
> EDIT: Whoops, I’m sorry, I did mean to make it chaptered but I forgot to check the box! So yes, this is a multi-chapter work/ WIP. Sorry for the confusion! (Though the first chapter could work as a stand-alone if you don’t want to wait for more chapters)

The stiffness of his collar didn’t escape his attention as he struggled not to squirm in his seat. Every movement made the back of his suit jacket rub uncomfortably against his neck. Ryan wanted nothing more than to strip down to his undershirt, but he knew that wouldn’t be professional.

With a quick scan of his eyes, he could see every one of his fellow coworkers shifting in their chair more than usual, as if they too wanted to be anywhere else but right where they were.

Slowly, the shuffling stopped as someone spotted their Director walking toward the meeting room with a quick stride. FBI Director Eugene Lee Yang closed the door behind him silently once he had everyone’s attention.

“You all should already know why I have assembled you here, so I’ll get right to the chase. Two days ago at around 7:40 PM, eight bodies were found in Pinepark, Minnesota. The Minnesotan police have interviewed every resident of the small town, but there have been no leads. Officer Tinsley suspects the citizens know more than they let on, so that’s where we come in,” the Director paused to pass out manila folders to every agent.

“What I just gave you is the amount of information the police have been able to find.” He dramatically motions for everyone to open it up, revealing the contents to be bare. “Nothing. We are completely starting from scratch. I want everyone in this room to go out to your desks and do as much research on the murders in Pinepark, or as the public calls it, ‘The Weeping Point Murder’. You get one hour to scrape up as much information as you can, include names, deaths, evidence, anything you can find. I have preselected two of you to go undercover, but I will only reveal them and their task after the hour is up. The pressure’s on, agents.” Director Yang raised his eyebrows when no one stood up. “Go, clock’s ticking!”

The agents scrambled up and pushed their way out the door.

Ryan felt immensely better as he was finally reunited with his plush desk chair. His good mood, however, was cut short when his annoying desk partner inclined toward him and threw his own empty folder on the ground.

“Why are we all doing this stupid investigation when only two of us are going to be a part of the undercover mission? I have better shit to do than just look up how a couple of people were killed. Remember the Sodder Children case? Maybe we should be investigating that unsolved crime instead,” Agent Ricky Goldsworth scoffed.

Ryan shrugged. “I don’t know, Ricky, I’m just trying to do what Director Yang told us to do. Can’t you go bother someone else?” Ryan pushed off the hand that Ricky had rested on his shoulder. Ricky was more adamant than usual about bothering Ryan and no one else as the hand returned. Ryan shook his head and turned to his computer, hoping to at least look like he was trying to work. 

It didn’t take long to forget all about his encounter with Agent Goldsworth and the hand still hovering near him.

The case, Ryan found out through his hour-rushed research, was one of the most unsettling cases he’s ever dealt with.

The Drechsler household of eight had been sleeping peacefully when it all went down. Their main floor, housing no bedrooms, looked pristine, almost as if it were a model home and not a crime scene. The upper level was an entirely different story.

At the top of the stairs, a hallway - that continued left - and two doors could be seen. The first door on the right wall opened up into what looked to be the master bedroom. The bed, which lay straight ahead upon entering, had ruffled red-stained sheets. On the right side of the king-sized bed, a woman in her late thirties lay lifelessly tangled amongst the sheets.

The woman, Ryan found out through excessive research, was Cassandra Drechsler, the first victim of the Weeping Point murders. She appeared to have been strangled to death, though her stomach was gauged open with what looked like six additional stab wounds. Her neck had rough hand-shaped bruises that - if she was strangled like Ryan read about in the police report - the knife wounds were only inflicted as overkill, a personal touch added for the killer’s benefit. Ryan noted that usually overkill meant that the killer knew their victim personally; the two may have been great friends once and something in their past triggered an unadulterated rage.

Within the master bedroom, a door that led to the master bathroom was swung open and a man – Robert Drechsler - lay crumpled on the ground in front of the bathtub. Robert Drechsler was a well-known and well-liked relator, who had no enemies Ryan could find. It looked as though Robert had fled the shared bed where he had most likely watched in horror as his wife was suffocated. He fled the bathroom in hopes of finding something to protect himself with, but he was too late. Robert’s blood careened over the side of the tub where his skull had made impact with the porcelain. His death was quick. The coroner’s statement showed Mr. Drechsler had not only hit his head on the tub, but had also been brutally beaten on his face and neck with a blunt weapon.

Back outside in the hallway, a lone woman laid sprawled on the ground. The woman by the name of Francesca Quincey had struggled with her attacker and ended up face-down on the plush carpet. She appeared to have a broken hand and, once again, blunt force trauma to the head that had been the cause of her drawn-out death.

Turing left and continuing down the hallway, a room was empty and the bed sheets were haphazardly thrown to one side. It was most likely Francesca’s room. 

The last two rooms were the most harrowing.

First, the room on the right at the end of the hallway was a bloodbath. Two women, Clara Campanelli – Cassandra’s sister – and Megan Zwicke – Clara’s fiancée – were found sprawled on the floor in a pool of their own blood. 

A fireplace stood in the far corner of the room, the stone painted red with the blood of Clara Campanelli. The coroner reported that she died when her skull made contact with the rough exterior of the fireplace. That was the only thing about Clara’s death in the report and Ryan felt as though he was missing something very important. He studied the image for a minute longer than he planned to, trying to found out what felt so _off_ about the murder.

Ryan then turned his attention to Megan Zwicke. Megan was covered in minor cuts, as though made by a thin and small knife – maybe a dagger? – and her body was littered with bruises. She looked to have tried to defend herself, but ultimately lost the losing battle when a knife plunged deep into her chest. The knife in question had not been found, as far as Ryan knew.

The last and final room of the Drechsler house was one of the biggest rooms so far, that was home to three young children. Ellie, Cole, and Nicolas. According to the research, Ellie was eleven years old, Cole was eight, and Nicolas, the youngest of the family, was only four.

In the first picture that Ryan found was of Ellie, only half of her body was visible, the rest hidden under her bed. Blood pooled around her abdomen where she appeared to have been stabbed repeatedly and ruthlessly. Ryan winced and quickly looked away from the horrendous sight.

He moved onto Nicolas, whose bed was the closest to Ellie’s. The little boy, not knowing any better, had hid under his sheets in the hope that the killer wouldn’t find him. There were two clean stab wounds that cut through the blanket, allowing blood to stain the sheets red. When the blanket was pulled back for another picture to be taken, little Nicolas had been stabbed in the back twice where he slowly bled to death, the knife not having hit any major organs that would have caused a quicker death. His face was stained with tears and Ryan’s heart clenched in sadness. 

Cole was not found in his bed, but cowering in the deep corner of his closet. There were holes in the wall of the inner closet from where a blunt object – possibly a sledgehammer or something of the sort - seemed to have been swung randomly to try and find Cole. Eventually, he was found and put to a swift end.

Ryan sighs sadly at the lives lost as he completes his research. Director Yang calls another meeting not a second after and all the agents trudge into the meeting room together. There are no smiles in the crowd when they all settle down in their seats. Even Ricky has the decency to look sad when the Director collects everyone’s information.

Director Yang whistles and pats Ryan on the back when he sees the abundance of research he was able to collect. “I knew I picked the right person, Bergara,” Yang smiled. Ryan had no time to contemplate what his boss said to him before the Director spoke again.

“If only you put this much thought into every case you work. Good work, Madej.”

The Sasquatch of a man named Shane Madej let out a small chuckle and shrugged his shoulders. “This case piqued my interest.”

The Director hummed and gathered all the folders into a neat pile at the head of the oblong table. “I’m impressed by how much information you all were able to collect. Though, two people in particular stood out to me. Just by holding onto their folders and seeing the amount of work they put into the case, I know I had originally picked the right people for the job. I just needed to make sure they were up for the challenge. With no further ado, the two agents going undercover are Agent Shane Madej and Agent Ryan Bergara,” Director Eugene Lee Yang smiled to the two of them in turn. “The rest of you, good work out there, you have proven that you are all capable of handling timed situations, and I thank you for that. The meeting is now dismissed, but Madej and Bergara please stay behind to talk with me.”

Slowly, the other agents filed out of the room, casting glances back at Shane and Ryan with an unknown emotion in their eyes. Ryan tried not to let the stares get to him. Luckily, Shane made for a great distraction when his long arms flailed in Ryan’s direction.

“Bergara, don’t look so down! Cheer up, this’ll be fun, our first undercover mission together!” Shane smiled.

“Shut up, Madej. People died we shouldn’t be high-fiving,” Ryan sighed but still reluctantly raised his hand and Shane met him halfway with a crisp high-five.

Even though his seat was closer to the Director, Shane scooted down three chairs to sit directly on Ryan’s left. Ryan heard Yang let out a long breath and collected his papers to move them in front of the two agents.

“Madej and Bergara, as you know, this is an undercover mission. I don’t care what your story is that you tell the public, you both can figure that out on the train ride there. What I do care about, is that this _stays_ an undercover mission. I don’t need to hear about the FBI agents that moved into Pinepark, in fact, if I hear that from one of my sources, both of you will be in very much trouble,” Director Yang sent a warning glare to the agents.

“I have set you two up in one of the houses, everything you need is there and if there is anything we missed please contact me or Officer Tinsley, I'm sure one of us can figure something out. After this meeting, you both will go home and pack one suitcase each with whatever you will need. I will allow you to bring your firearm and badges, but please, don’t flaunt them, and _don’t_ use them unless absolutely necessary.” This time, the glance Director Yang sent them was more directed to Shane.

“Your job is to try and befriend the locals to get any information you can out of them. You will receive a folder with a picture of each of the residents in town; do with them as you please. I would suggest taking advantage of the cork wall I had installed in the office of your temporary house. If I were you, I would pin up each of the photos and use it as an suspect wall, but make sure the door to the office stays locked when you aren’t in there. We really don’t need someone walking in on that,” Director Yang shook his head. “Whoever did this, killed _eight_ people, it’s very important that we need to find whoever did this so they can be punished for their crimes.” Shane and Ryan shared the briefest of glances.

“In my profession opinion, I think there was more than a single killer, though it very much could’ve been one very strong person. I highly doubt that’s the case,” Yang added in a lower voice. 

Shane and Ryan sat in silence until the Director nodded slowly to himself. 

“The meeting is dismissed, go pack a suitcase and come back here. We’ll have the folder and a car ready to pick you up in one hour to bring you to the train station. Your personal cars can stay in the office parking lot over the mission. You’ll be supplied with a company car when you get off the train.” 

Ryan nodded and stood up, he tried to walk past Shane without the taller agent striking up a conversation, but he was unlucky.

“Are you excited, Bergara?” Shane asked with clear excitement in his voice.

“People were murdered, Madej, that’s not really something to be excited about,” Ryan reminded him.

Shane sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, trailing after Ryan once he was able to push through the doorway. “Well, yeah, I know, but I didn’t mean it like that. I meant if you were excited to go on a mission with me? Because I've seen how you work around here and _damn_ I wanted an excuse to get to know you better and it looks like that opportunity is finally here.”

Ryan could feel Shane’s eyes on him, but he didn’t turn around to confront the man face-to-face. “Cute,” Ryan scoffed sarcastically.

Shane stopped following him to splutter out some useless jumble of words.

“Go home and pack, Shane,” Ryan shook his head and raised his hand in a half-hearted wave.

“Yes, Sir,” Shane laughed, finally parting ways with the younger agent.

Ryan had never been more grateful that he lived so close to the agency. It took him a mere five minutes, give or take a few, before he was unlocking his apartment door and walking into his silent sanctuary. 

Thinking he could spare a few minutes, Ryan dropped his body unceremoniously onto his beat-up leather couch. He sighed deeply, finally away from prying eyes. Ryan’s phone buzzed from where he had placed it on his kitchen table as soon as he walked in. Ryan only got up to check it in case it was his Director. Sadly, it was only Shane.

_Hey, I was thinking we should be dating._

Ryan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion until another text popped up not ten seconds later.

_I mean we should be dating for our mission. We’ll need a reason why two grown men are moving in together … into a secluded town … away from prying eyes. But obviously we’re not dating in real life. That’d be weird. Right?_

Ryan felt the beginnings of a migraine edge its way to the front of his head. He typed out his reply with one hand whilst trying to remember where he put his pain meds.

_We’ll talk on the train._

He tossed his phone back on his kitchen counter on his way into the bathroom. He flicked on the light and bent down, opening the cabinet under the sink to grab the bottle of Advil. 

After successfully downing two pills, Ryan left his bathroom in order to start packing. He figured he only needed to bring clothes and essentials, so he, quite literally, threw random clothes from his closet onto his bed to later be put in his large suitcase.

With less than ten minutes to spare, Ryan struggled to pull his suitcase through his front door. His neighbor, a sweet old man named Cedric, saw him struggle and ambled over to help.

“These pesky things,” Cedric tutted to the suitcase and Ryan laughed. “Sometimes you just got to put it on its side and hope for the best.”

Ryan smiled as he tried to rotate his over-packed suitcase onto its side. “Thank you,” Ryan said as it was finally pulled into the hallway.

Cedric only returned his smile and motioned to the elevator. “Going down, I'm assuming?” Ryan nodded in response.

Together, they walked to the elevator at the far side of the building. The pair only lived on the third floor, so Ryan knew the trip down would be short.

“Where’re you heading off to?” Cedric asked once the doors closed on them and the elevator started to move.

“I don’t know actually,” Ryan said, thinking on the spot. “My boyfriend told me to pack a suitcase and meet him down the street. It’s our one year anniversary this weekend so I'm assuming he’s taking me on a romantic getaway,” Ryan smiled, hoping he sounded convincing.

“He sounds like a good man,” Cedric hummed.

“Yeah, he’s really something,” Ryan trailed off, letting the two of them fall back into silence.

Soon enough, the elevator dinged as it finally opened its doors. At the entrance to their apartment building, he and Cedric said their goodbyes as the old man went in the opposite direction as Ryan.

Ryan slid his suitcase in the back of his black Tahoe, and was once again on his way to the agency. 

Director Yang greeted Ryan at the door with a broad smile on his face. “I gave Madej your folder for the mission, I also included Officer Tinsley’s personal cell phone number, in case the either of you need anything. Don’t make me regret sending the both of you.”

Ryan smiled nervously. “Of course, Sir.”

The Director nodded his acceptance. “Good luck and keep an eye on Madej will you? He seems a bit off today,” Yang studied his colleague and watched as Ryan nervously nodded.

They said their formal goodbyes, then Ryan went back out into the parking lot where a medium sized grey car was waiting for him. 

He slid into the seat next to Shane as the driver loaded his suitcase into the trunk. 

The drive to the train station was surprisingly quiet and they were pulling up to the station just thirty minutes later. It was still quiet as the agents shuffled onto the correct boarding platform and patiently waited on a nearby bench. 

Shane was omitting a nervous energy that Ryan tried to tame by placing a reassuring hand on Shane’s knee and giving it a light squeeze. The taller man jumped at the contact, but made no move to move Ryan’s hand.

“Are you okay?” Ryan asked softly, not wanting to spook Shane more than he already was.

“Yeah,” Shane said, even though the tone of his voice said something different entirely.

“Look, you're not going to be alone, I’ll be right next to you the entire time, there's nothing to worry about. Besides the psycho killer of course,” Ryan tried to joke, which earned a tight laugh from Shane. “Anyway, I’d be a bad boyfriend if I let you suffer alone.”

That got Shane’s attention.

“Our story? I figured you had a point. It’d be easier to explain why we’re moving there in the first place. And my neighbor already knows we’re dating so you can't back down now,” Ryan warned.

Shane wheezed, his nervous energy slowly disappearing. “Good, I was worried you’d react badly to my poorly worded text messages.”

The two sat in a comfortable silence until the train came into view, the platform slowly coming to life the closer the train got. Soon, the agents were pressed together by the crowd trying to get onboard. They calmly waited their turn and walked into the secluded section of the train where the agency had rented them out one of the private cubicles that only the rich could afford.

They settled comfortably across from each other, their suitcases sitting beside them. Ryan leaned his elbows on the small table between the two and looked out the window, watching the outside world slowly start moving. Ryan swore he saw their driver wave to them.

Once the station wasn’t in sight anymore, Ryan turned his attention to Shane. “So how’d you get me to go out with you?”

Shane thought for a moment. “We met at a movie theater at the first screening of _The Conjuring_. Since it was opening night, there weren’t any empty seats and your seat happened to be next to mine. During one of the scary parts, you unknowingly reached out and grabbed my hand. You were a total stranger to me, albeit a really cute one, so I gently pulled my hand away. After the third time it happened, I let you hold onto my hand for the rest of the movie,” Shane paused, for dramatic effect or because he didn’t know what else to say, Ryan didn’t know.

“After the credits, you realized you were still holding my hand in that vise grip of yours and got really flustered. It was easily the cutest thing I’d ever seen in my life and I asked if you wanted to see a movie together again, as a date, and you agreed. We’ve been dating ever since, our five-year anniversary is this year, and as a romantic gesture, we decided to move in together.”

Ryan sat in stunned silence for a moment. “Wow, it seems as though you’ve thought about this for awhile,” he teased.

“What? No! It was just the first thing that came into my head.”

Ryan hummed. “Yeah, sure, Shane, I believe you.”

Shane blushed and quickly averted his gaze to the table. Ryan watched as Shane squirmed under his watchful eyes. The younger of the two giggled and turned his attention back out the window. 

Their stop in Lionscrest, the neighboring town to Pinepark, wasn’t for another few hours, so Ryan leaned back and tried to get some sleep.

Of course that was the moment when Shane started talking again.

“We’ve known each other for quite some time now, haven’t we?”

Ryan made a noise of agreement, his eyes still closed.

“Why haven’t we ever hung out, outside of work? Like, dude, I don’t even know what the inside of your apartment looks like. I've only ever seen you in your work outfits, this will be the first time in the seven years that we’ve known each other I’ll see you in civilian clothes. Doesn’t that freak you out? We’ll probably have to kiss on this mission and I don’t even know your middle name.”

“It’s Steven.”

“What?”

“My middle name. It’s Ryan _Steven_ Bergara. Does that make you feel better?” Ryan sighed, giving up on sleeping for the time being.

“Yeah, I guess it does. Mine’s _Alexander_ , if you were wondering.” Shane fidgeted with his fingers. “I have one more thing to say before I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the ride.”

“What is it?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to kiss me?” Shane asked, pausing for a moment before being overcome with an internal panic when Ryan didn’t respond right away. “I just think it’d be odd if our first kiss is around the townspeople if we’ve supposedly been dating for almost five years.”

Ryan didn’t respond verbally. He took in Shane’s tousled hair, his clear-rimmed glasses, the way he was biting the inside of his bottom lip in a nervous habit, his tie that had somehow loosened and exposed the hollow of Shane’s neck, and the first two buttons of his white button-up shirt he insisted on having undone, and surged forward, hooking a finger in Shane’s tie and pulling him forward to meet Ryan in the middle of their shared table.

He gave Shane no time to react as he smashed their lips together. Shane let out a breathy laugh of shock and Ryan pulled away before he let his mind get the better of him. He licked his lips unconsciously as he sat back down in his seat.

Shane groaned. “That wasn’t fair, I didn’t have a chance to recuperate,” he pouted.

“I guess you’ll have to wait until next time,” Ryan smirked. He settled his head against the wall again, hoping to catch a bit of rest before their stop.

Ryan could hear Shane move around for a couple minutes before he was able to drift off to sleep.

Ryan awoke to an incessant tapping on his shoulder. “What do you want?” He sleepily shoved the hand away. 

“We’re here, Ry,” Shane replied. 

Ryan yawned and stretched, trying to force his body to wake up in order not to fall around like a newborn fawn. He only really succeeded halfway and if he tripped over his feet once or twice, no one commented.

Together, they shuffled over to the parking ramp and immediately came face-to-face with a man in a suit. He held a sign that had both of their names on it and the agents hesitantly approached.

A quick conversation later, the man was handing them the keys to the black car behind him and stepping away. Ryan and Shane shared a glance before shrugging in unison and packing their suitcases into the trunk.

They decided that Ryan was the better driver of the two, even in his tired state, therefore Shane slid into the passenger seat. “This car better have heated seats, I'm so cold,” Shane mumbled.

“It’s the end of summer, how are you cold right now?” Ryan asked, bewildered.

Shane didn’t grace him a response, he just waited until the car was turned on and then fiddled with various buttons on the dashboard. While Shane looked for the heated seat button, Ryan pulled up the GPS and found it already had an address programmed into it. The younger agent pulled the car out of the parking lot at the same time when Shane turned on his heated seat. The older man groaned happily as his seat slowly warmed up.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ryan watched Shane’s expression soften at having such a small luxury. At every stoplight, he found his attention drawn to the man sitting to his right and it was … annoying. 

When the GPS led them off to a side road, Ryan figured they were close to their destination. No less than thirty seconds later, he read a sign saying ‘Welcome to Pinepark! Population: 47’ and at that moment, it hit him how many people are potential suspects, thirty-nine if the recently deceased are still included in the current population. That is, however, if the murderer didn’t live in Lionscrest or other adjacent cities.

Shane was suddenly bouncing in his seat, from excitement or nervousness, Ryan didn’t know.

The asphalt road gradually changed to gravel and, after a bend in the road, there seemed to be a car park. Ryan pulled their shitty 2006 Toyota Corolla into the lot and popped the trunk. He ordered Shane to go out and start unloading their suitcases from the back, while he checked the glove box for the house keys.

He secured the keys and stepped out into the crisp evening air. Ryan strolled over to where Shane now waited for him, and grabbed his suitcase’s handle. “C’mon, it’s a bit of a trek along the road before we get to our new home,” Ryan informed his coworker.

He was, in fact, acting for their mission when he reached out and laced his and Shane’s fingers together. Ryan felt, more than saw, Shane look down at him, but he did his best to ignore the looming figure.

“We’re staying in House Six and the houses should have their number on them somewhere,” Ryan informed his companion.

Shane nodded and turned his attention to his left where little houses could be seen through the pine trees. Soon enough, Shane made a little noise and motioned with his head to one of the smaller houses. “Right there, behind House Thirteen.” He let go of Ryan’s hand to point to the two-story house. 

Ryan followed his gaze, while subtly grabbing Shane’s hand again. He blames his action on his hand missing the warmth of Shane’s, not on the fact that it felt _right_ to have his hand held by the taller man.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ryan saw Shane try to hide a grin as he swung their hands between them like a couple of children. _How cute._

With the hand that was still gripping his suitcase like a lifeline, Ryan fumbled with the keys the closer they got to their new house. He let out a quiet sigh, hoping that the operation will go smoothly, but knowing the two of them, it will most likely be anything but smooth. 

The door clicked shut behind them and Ryan felt almost giddy. From an outsider’s perspective, he was able to essentially start his life over.

Maybe the new version of Ryan wasn’t afraid of bears, maybe he wasn’t struggling to cope with newfound emotions toward his coworker, maybe he wasn’t scared of the future because he lived in the present and didn’t worry about whether or not he was going to be forgotten in history.

It was fun to imagine a life that he would never have, but he knew it would only make him sad to keep wishing everything was different.

Ryan squeezed Shane’s hand to help ground him to the present. 

Standing in the entrance to their temporary home, Ryan looked around to take it all in.

To his immediate left, a white ash staircase rose up to the second floor. The carpet under his feet was tan and black speckled, with hints of a deep grey, which seemed to make the siege green walls come alive with color. It was a strange combination, but Ryan thought they brought the entire room together. In front of him lay three red plush leather chairs, with a low black coffee table, and an L-shaped sofa.

A couple feet beyond the sofa, the carpet turned to white ash wood flooring, the same as the staircase leading up. Near the back right corner of the house, an assortment of white chairs surrounded an, equally white, dinning table. Half hidden behind the large staircase, resided the kitchen. The marble grey countertop resembled a lowercase ‘N’ in shape. On the far left, a dark fridge sat. Directly opposite the fridge, four black barstools surrounded the open end of the counter, serving as an island.

Ryan was quite impressed with the layout of the lower level, practically skipping past Shane, who was still standing in the doorway, to glide up the stairs.

The stairs led him to a lone hallway that wrapped around the right side of the staircase, ending at a wall with a painting of a stream and a couple trees. The room head-on from the stairs was the only bathroom.

The bathroom itself was simple: a vanity that doubled as the sink, bathtub, toilet, and an all-glass shower.

The room to the right of the bathroom was the office. The door was cracked open slightly, though Ryan didn’t feel like looking at that particular room right away, there was somewhere else he wanted to explore first.

His exploration led him to their bedroom. With a quiet reading corner and closet to the left of the door, the bedroom was almost bare. They only had one dresser to share, one king-sized bed, and two night tables. 

Ryan drifted over to the left side of the bed, already deemed ‘his side’, where a single window was located. It opened up to a willow tree, with what Ryan thought was a neighbor’s window beyond. Ryan got a bit unsettled by the clear view his new neighbor would have into his bedroom. He shrugged, assuming that he could invest in some drapes if he really needed to. There was nothing to worry about.

Realizing his unkind action in leaving his suitcase down by Shane, Ryan slumped his shoulders and went to go retrieve his belongings. Just outside their new bedroom, he could hear Shane huffing on the stairs.

“Ryan, it’s fine, I’ve got your stuff,” Shane puffed.

“You don’t have to do that, here, let me help you,” Ryan offered.

Shane, while struggling, shook his head and Ryan watched a little helplessly.

The last few stairs seemed to give Shane the least amount of trouble, and momentarily, he was grinning next to Ryan. Shane shifted his grip on their suitcases and let the handles rest gently against his palms.

“What’re we gonna do first, babe?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Buzzfeed Unsolved season is starting today and I'm so excited :O
> 
> WARNING: this chapter does contain a new character who's, to put it bluntly, a pervert and a pedophile. Be careful reading if that's not your cup of tea. If you'd rather not read because of the things listed above, you can leave me a comment and I will try my best to summarize the chapter for you :)

The time it took Ryan to unpack was … upsetting. Shane had been sitting on his phone for the last half hour while he watched Ryan get his things organized. With organization, came a deep calmness that Ryan was never able to properly identify.

Finally, after a few snarky comments from Shane, Ryan zipped his empty suitcase closed and stuffed it under their bed. “Baby boy, you’re done, I can’t believe it!” Shane joked from his spot on his side of the bed.

“You can drop the act, no one’s around to hear us.” Ryan glared at Shane when he had the audacity to look puzzled. “You don't need to call me…” Ryan blushed and trailed off.

“What, Ryan? What don’t I have to call you?” Shane teased, throwing his phone to the side to really take in Ryan’s flushed face.

“Shut up, Madej, you know what I mean,” Ryan sighed and dragged a hand down his face and down to his tie to tug it loose. If they were supposed to be a normal couple, there was no reason he had to be in his suit any longer. It was a small blessing. 

“Oh! Ryan, I didn’t expect you to get so hot and bothered by a single nickname. Stripping for me, are you?” Shane laughed, but there was an undertone of something Ryan didn’t want to think about.

The younger’s agent face flushed deeper and cast his gaze toward the small window, hoping it would give him enough confidence to continue with their conversation.

His embarrassed smile dropped almost immediately.

“Hey, Shane?” Ryan asked nervously, quickly facing his back to the window.

“Yes?” He sat straighter at the tone in Ryan’s voice. “Is everything alright?”

“I don’t know. This window opens to the weeping willow tree in our front yard. And beyond the tree is our neighbor’s house.” Ryan shifted nervously and Shane was by his side in a second.

“And? Ryan, spit it out,” Shane urged. He let his hands fall on Ryan’s shoulders in a comforting grip.

“He can see into our room,” Ryan said. “He’s looking … right now. He was watching me undress. Luckily I was just loosening my tie, but he’s freaking me out.”

“Great, we have a creep for a neighbor.” Shane thought for a moment, before he seemed to get an idea.

“Okay, Ryan, you might not like this plan, but I know how we could use this to our advantage,” Shane grinned.

“And how could we do that?” Ryan asked suspiciously.

“Our goal here is to find the killer, right? We need to make friends with the neighbors, and what better way to do it than have some creep watching us? He’ll be like our inside guy, without him knowing of course.”

“Shane, no, that’s a terrible idea! I know we can think of a better way to make friends with the locals,” Ryan stepped backwards to evade Shane’s - now waving frantically - arms. That small step brought him one step closer to the window and he could practically feel their older neighbor watching him. 

While Ryan would’ve rather admitted ghosts weren’t real, he did think Shane had a point. “Alright, I guess we can try. What should I do?”

“Take off your shirt.”

Ryan furrowed his eyebrows but resolutely dropped his tie and got to work on the buttons of his shirt.

“Wait, let me do it,” Shane grinned mischievously. Before Ryan even had to ask, Shane quickly added: “Then he’ll see that you’re _mine_ and not _his_ and I bet you he’ll be knocking on our door within the hour.”

“You’re an idiot, why would this ever work?” Ryan sighed but removed his hands from the buttons. Shane maneuvered him so they were both clearly seen in the window, and started to slowly undo Ryan’s shirt.

Shane made taking off the younger agent’s shirt a _slow_ process, but Ryan couldn’t find it in himself to speed him up. Unhurriedly, Ryan’s dress shirt was peeled off and fluttered to the ground. Soon after, his undershirt followed.

Ryan reached a shaky hand to Shane’s hair and guided the taller man’s head to his neck.

“What are you doing?” Shane whispered against the skin of Ryan’s throat.

“We need to move away from the window somehow without looking suspicious.” Ryan swallowed and dragged his facial hair against Shane’s downturned cheek to sigh into Shane’s ear. “If you’re correct and our neighbor is coming over, we better make it look like he interrupted something.”

Shane inhaled a quick breath. “Fuck, Ryan, you're a genius.”

Ryan’s fingers carded through Shane’s hair, to give it a tousled look, while he let Shane suck one mark onto his neck, low enough that he could cover easily.

As soon as Ryan was really starting to enjoy the closeness of Shane’s body against his own, movement outside their window caught his attention. The old man next door was quietly shutting his front door and leisurely crossing their adjoining lawns. His cane made small _thumps_ against the concrete of their front stoop and Ryan, regretfully, pushed Shane away.

“He’s here just like you thought,” Ryan gave him a small smile. “Go be a good neighbor and let the poor man in. I’ll be down in a minute.”

Shane’s gaze lingered a second longer than normal and he only started moving when Ryan made a shooing motion at him.

Once Ryan could hear Shane opening their front door, he let out a deep sigh. _How did he let himself get wrapped up in his stupid new_ feelings _for his coworker so early on in their investigation?_ He was disappointed in himself. Ryan vowed that behind closed doors, their relationship would remain strictly professional. 

Selfishly, he was going to cherish the few minutes he had with Shane by the window, but he wasn’t going to allow himself something like that again. Unless it was for the case, nothing unnecessary would happen between the two of them. He would make sure of it.

He gracefully strutted downstairs, his dress shirt back on, though he didn’t bother with the buttons or the undershirt, and got ready to fake-seduce the old guy.

Shane gave Ryan a soft grin that didn’t go unnoticed by anyone. “I was just talking about you to Gabriel, it’s nice of you to join us.”

The old man – possibly in his late seventies – not-so-subtly checked Ryan out from head-to-toe, his gaze lingered on Ryan’s bare torso for a few additional seconds. “Gabriel Hill, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” the old man – now introduced as Gabriel – gave him a toothy smile and Ryan tried not to notice the one missing front tooth.

Ryan tried not to show his disgust when he sat down in a red chair across from the couch where Gabriel was patiently seated. “Ryan Bergara … and the pleasure is all mine,” he sent Gabriel a sly smile. It seemed to have the desired affect.

Something in Shane snapped and he possessively reached out from his seat beside Ryan’s to grab his hand. “So what do you do, Gabriel?” Shane asked through gritted teeth.

Gabriel chuckled. “I like to fish, but these old bones don’t like to cooperate with me most times. It would be easier if I had a fishing buddy,” he paused and briefly met Ryan’s eyes, before looking back at Shane. “Drake Williamson used to fish with me, but that poor guy, his wife won’t let him out on the water anymore. She says the water’s too dangerous for a man his age. Drake’s only fifty! I swear that woman will kill him one day,” Gabriel shook his head.

Ryan and Shane spared a quick glance to each other. “Interesting way to put it,” Shane said when the silence stretched on for too long.

“Yeah, but it’s the truth, son.”

“So Gabe, mind if I call you Gabe?” Ryan asked with an exaggerated wink.

Gabriel shook his head. “Of course not, go ahead, darling.”

“You’re the first neighbor we’ve met, do you know of anyone who could be a problem for _us_?” Ryan asked, putting emphasis where he knew it would be needed.

“For you two? No, at least not the way you’re thinking. Everyone’s open here. We’ve got another gay couple and a polyamorous relationship,” Gabriel smiled.

“You said ‘not the way you’re thinking’, is there someone here that could pose as a potential threat to us, and not because we’re gay?”

Gabriel paused. “It’s not really my place to say anything.”

Ryan gave him a reassuring smile and lightly squeezed Shane’s hand. “It’s okay, we won’t tell anyone.”

“Fine, there’s Robert Vize. He means well, truly, but sometimes he get’s … memories from his past. It’s not his fault, he doesn’t mean to lash out, but there’s some days where it’s best to leave him alone. He fought in the military for _years_ and he would’ve never left if it wasn’t for the accident. See, he was an air-force pilot - a damn good one at that - but one day his plane unexpectedly crashed and they had to amputate one of his legs. And believe me, that’s wasn’t even the worst day of his life.”

Ryan saw pain echo through Gabriel’s eyes.

“His daughter, Taylor, wanted to follow in his footsteps and go into the military. She left her four-year-old daughter with him and fought bravely for her country. The last time he heard from her, she was going overseas for some mission and she told Robert to tell Lisa, her daughter, that she would be home safe within the month. She never returned … and that was eight years ago. I know Robert blames himself for Taylor’s death, even though it wasn’t his fault. It took countless years to finally get him to a therapist for his PTSD, but he’s never truly gotten back to his old self.”

“That’s horrible,” Ryan breathed. 

“Yeah, but he’s a good man, don’t let his backstory fool you. He likes to bake pies with his granddaughter; I think it distracts him from the memories. Though beware, he’s known to sleepwalk, so if you see him outside your window at night, he’s most likely sleeping,” Gabriel chuckled and tried to lighten the mood.

“We’ll keep an eye out,” Shane smiled.

The three sat in silence for a few moments, before Ryan let go of Shane’s hand and walked toward the kitchen. “Anyone want anything to drink?”

Shane shook his head, even though Ryan’s back was to him. “No, babe, I’m okay.”

“I’ll have some water if you don’t mind,” Gabriel said.

Ryan hummed and grabbed two glasses of water. When he came back and offered Gabriel’s cup to the man, their fingers brushed.

Shane decided to metaphorically bite the bullet and ask Gabriel the real question. “So, Gabe, do you know anything of the murders that happened here?”

Gabriel laughed again. “Blunt, are we?”

Shane looked bashful for the briefest of seconds.

“I don’t know anything about the murder itself, but I was friends with Cole, he was a nice boy,” Gabriel trailed off sadly.

Ryan pulled his knees up, unconsciously, in an effort to protect himself from the meaning behind that statement. Cole was the eight-year-old boy.

“I’m not sure Cassandra liked me very much,” Gabriel chuckled. “She didn’t like when Cole and I had play-dates together. He didn’t get along with people his age and I have no idea why. Cole was a really good kid.”

Shane had the decency to not look disgusted; he didn’t exactly like the way Gabriel talked about Cole. Ryan’s disgust was clear on his face, though luckily, Gabriel was looking down at his glass.

“Do you have any idea who could do this to them?” Shane asked to change the subject.

“Why do you care so much? You a cop or something?” Gabriel joked.

Shane laughed nervously, but Gabriel didn’t seem to notice. 

“No, truthfully I have no idea. Though if that pretty thing were to sit next to me, maybe that might help jog my memory,” Gabriel gestured to Ryan sitting silently as far away from the old man as possible.

Ryan laughed and put on a flirtatious smirk. “Gabe! I just met you; I don’t think that’d be the best idea. For all I know, you could be a serial killer,” Ryan giggled, only half joking. 

Gabriel tutted. “It’s a shame, really,” he paused. “No, I don’t know anything about the murder. All I know is that it was a tragedy.”

“Yeah it really was.” Shane sighed and when he grabbed Ryan’s hand a second time, Ryan subtly pulled his hand away and instead wrapped his arms around his legs, Gabriel took notice with a frown. Shane checked the time on his phone and let out an audible sigh. “It’s getting pretty late, I think I'm going to go get ready for bed.” On any normal night, Shane wouldn’t be caught dead going to sleep before 10:00PM, but he felt the need to get Gabriel away from Ryan.

“I guess you’re right,” Gabriel said. “I shouldn’t keep you two up any longer. It’s been nice meeting you Ryan,” he gave him a smile. “You too, Shane.”

Shane nodded and tugged Ryan up with him to walk Gabriel to the door. Ryan’s glass left a condensation ring on the table where Shane placed it.

Ryan seemed to come back from wherever in his head he was, long enough to wave goodbye to Gabriel before they closed the door behind their older neighbor. 

“Are you okay, Ryan?” Shane asked gently. “I’m sorry I put you in that position to be hit on by a seventy-something year old man. It must have been uncomfortable.”

Ryan wrapped himself in his shirt and crossed his arms on his chest. “It’s no big deal, it’s not like I've never been hit on by an older man before.”

Shane didn’t like the feeling he got in his stomach when he heard Ryan say that. “Ry…”

“Shane it’s fine, it’s in the past. I don’t want to talk about it. Now I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight,” Ryan distanced himself from Shane and disappeared upstairs.

As Ryan was just about to drift off to sleep, he felt the bed dip as Shane lay down next to him. “If you ever want to tell me anything, I’ll listen. I care about you, Ryan, please don’t keep everything bottled up, it’s not good for you,” Shane whispered. Ryan tried to shuffle closer to Shane’s warm body heat as inconspicuously as he could. Shane chuckled but didn’t mention it. All he did was swing an arm over Ryan and promptly fall asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Just as he thought, Ryan woke to a still-sleeping Shane. The man in question however, was now wrapped tight around Ryan and the younger agent almost didn’t have the heart to move the affronting arms. _Almost_. 

Shane grumbled awake when Ryan pushed his arm up a few inches so he could slither onto the floor like a snake. “My warmth,” Shane whined.

“You’ll live,” Ryan laughed. He straightened up and stretched tall. “What’re you gonna do today? I was thinking I’d go check out the lake.”

“The lake? I guess I’ll be a good detective and set up the evidence board,” Shane sighed deeply.

“You want to act like a good detective for once in your life? How cute,” Ryan cooed mockingly.

“Baby, you wound me,” Shane gasped in offense. 

Ryan raised his hands up in defense with a smile plastered on his face. “It’s too early to deal with this, _honey_ , I’m gonna get dressed and have breakfast. Care to join me?” Ryan asked while rummaging through his, lightly wrinkled, clothes hanging in the closet. He pulled out a pair of light blue shorts with little anchors strewed about. “Boat shorts, yes or no?”

“Yes to both. And you should wear that white shirt with them.” Shane stuck out a finger to point to one of Ryan’s white v-neck t-shirts. “I’ve never seen that shirt before.”

“Of course you haven’t, dumbass, we’ve never hung out after work before,” Ryan scoffed.

“No, I mean like on your Instagram or whatever. Don’t judge me,” Shane smiled and Ryan’s resolve melted into the floorboards. “Just put it on, I bet you’ll look good in it.”

Shane had grossly underestimated the power of Ryan’s white shirt. It was practically see-through, leaving nothing to the imagination. Shane thanked whatever God may or may not be out there for blessing him with the image of Ryan Steven Bergara in _that_ shirt which would now be permanently ingrained in Shane’s mind.

“How’s it look?” Ryan asked self-consciously.

“Oh my god, Ryan, marry me,” Shane gapped. Ryan only laughed in response, his cheeks blushing prettily. “No, I'm serious, I think I'm in love.”

“Shut up Shane.” Ryan ran a hand across the back of his neck.

“I’ve seen an angel … no, I've seen God,” Shane murmured, completely serious.

“Shane, now you're being overdramatic.” Ryan tried not to act like Shane’s obvious gawking was getting to him like it was. His blush softened to a dull pink after a straight minute of not looking in Shane’s general direction. It was the longest minute of his life. 

“Enough, babe, let’s go eat breakfast together like a real couple.”

“I think I know what I want,” Shane smirked suggestively.

“That’s not appropriate!” Ryan squeaked. “I’ll take this shirt off if you keep acting like that.”

“Is that a threat or a promise?” Shane laughed.

“Gross.” Ryan shook his head with a smile on his face and skipped out of their room. “Last one down makes food!” Ryan called out to him when he was already halfway down the stairs.

By the time Shane came into the kitchen, Ryan was sitting on one of the four barstools that surrounded the open end of their kitchen counter. “Not fair, baby,” Shane frowned and got to work retrieving the bread out of their fridge. 

Ryan hummed and kicked his feet childishly.

Not two minutes later, Shane set down two pieces of plain whole-wheat toast in front of the younger agent. “Look, I made your favorite.”

Ryan didn’t complain, while it was true - he did like plain toast - he’d never tried plain whole-wheat toast before. He was more of a white bread kind of guy.

Shane set down his over-buttered, cut into four triangles, single slice of toast and accompanied it with a glass of orange juice.

Breakfast was a quiet affair and soon enough, Ryan found himself out on their front lawn enjoying the fresh morning breeze. He turned right and cut through House Seven and House Eleven’s adjoining lawns, passing by Eleven’s empty front porch that held an unoccupied rocking chair which was creaking in the wind, to finally spot the lake peeking out between a few pine trees.

The breeze, which got colder the closer he got to the lake, seemed to weave through the fabric of his clothes and make him feel oddly pleasant. The sound of three distinct voices rose from the lake’s dock, immediately drawing Ryan’s attention. 

It looked to be two men and a woman, all fairly young - no older than twenty-five - and about the same height. One of the men had a short blonde ponytail with purple highlights streaked about, while the other had short brown hair that looked to be carefully groomed. The woman had stunning red hair that went well past her shoulders, making her stand out against the sun’s rays. 

Unluckily, Ponytail Guy saw Ryan before he was ready to interact with his fellow neighbors, his and Shane’s cover story playing on a loop in his head. Ponytail Guy gave him a wide smile and motioned for Ryan to come closer.

Ryan gave him a wave and started the short trek over to the three on the dock.

“Bro, what’s up? I've never seen you around here before,” Ponytail Guy shouted once Ryan was within shouting distance.

Ryan gave him an awkward smile as he sped up his stride to have a conversation with his neighbors without having to yell. “Hey, I’m Ryan Bergara, my boyfriend and I just moved into House Six yesterday.” He politely stuck his hand out, but Ponytail Guy had other plans. He wrapped Ryan up in a hug, one that had Ryan’s feet dangling off the ground for a millisecond.

Ponytail Guy must have sensed Ryan’s confusion, because he let go of him and smiled shyly. “Sorry, I’m a friendly guy, but I've been told I'm a little _too_ friendly sometimes.” He cleared his throat and then continued. “I'm Randal Greene, this is my brother Jake, and my sister Delilah,” he introduced.

Jake gave Ryan a once-over followed by a nod, while Delilah gave him a bright smile.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Ryan!” Delilah smiled, dimples appearing on her freckled-cheeks for a brief moment. “We were just about to borrow Bert and Bethany’s boat, would you like to come out on the lake with us?”

“Sure, that’d be fun!” He gave them an effortless smile. It looked to be that he just made his first friends.

Getting the boat undocked took merely seconds with Randal and Delilah doing all the work. Ryan sat awkwardly on the bench in the back of the boat, not sure if he should be helping or not.

Jake settled in one of the two plush chairs by the steering wheel. Assuming that Randal would be the one driving, that would mean Ryan would be alone with Delilah. He didn’t know how to feel about that. 

Delilah plopped herself down on the bench next to Ryan, giving him an exaggerated wink. At Ryan’s nervous laugh, she lent in and whispered: “You’re cute, but sorry, I’m a full blown lesbian.”

Ryan laughed loudly. “Don't worry, I still have that boyfriend I just moved in with.”

Delilah’s eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store. “Tell me about him!” She squealed at the opportunity to hear about someone else’s love life that wasn’t her own brothers’.

Ryan’s smile came easy to him, something about being in Delilah’s presence made him feel comfortable.

“His name’s Shane, he’s super tall - like Bigfoot’s height, and he’s got this really cute laugh that could brighten anyone’s day. I’ve known him for years and he still finds ways to surprise me.” Ryan’s face softened the more he thought about Shane. For a minute, he could freely list the things that were constantly in the back of his mind.

“Aw, how’d you guys meet?” Delilah cooed dreamily.

“Do you want the full story or a brief summary?”

Delilah looked appalled. “Excuse me? You better not leave out any details, Ryan!”

And so he told her. He told her about _The Conjuring_ , about the awkward hand holding, about everything, even adding in some extra notes about how hot Shane looked in the theater lights. He was proud of himself on how love-struck his voice sounded. He was getting really good at this fake-relationship thing if he did say so himself. 

By the end, even Jake had turned around and was smiling softly. 

“You two sound so cute! You’ll have to introduce us,” Delilah said, still smiling widely. 

“I will, for sure. Are you dating anyone?” Ryan asked.

Delilah just laughed and shook her head. “No, not currently. Though at the restaurant all three of us work, Susan’s Bar & Grill, there _is_ this really cute girl named Emily that I've been crushing on for forever. She’s got these piercing blue eyes that are the prettiest things I've ever seen. Sadly, Emily lives down in Lionscrest, where the majority of the population around here lives.”

Ryan sighed in sympathy. “For the record, I bet you two would make a great couple.”

Her smile quickly turned into an excited grin. “Thanks. I’ll show you a picture of Emily if you show me a picture of Shane.”

Luckily, Shane had forced Ryan to take a ‘cute couple’ picture with him and set it as his phone’s lock screen. It wasn’t anything too fancy, it was just a selfie of the two of them grinning like idiots while their interlocked-hands were raised just enough to be seen in the frame.

Without looking at his lock screen beforehand, he raised it up and clicked on the home button to show Delilah. What he wasn’t expecting was to see a text from Shane that read:

_I miss u and ur hot ass D:_

Ryan blushed profusely. “Ah, I probably should’ve checked my phone first.”

Delilah only giggled and went to pull out her phone, holding her hand up as a shield against the bright sun. “We’re friends now, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Cause I was gonna compliment you on the hickey that your shirt doesn’t exactly cover, but I didn’t want to creep you out before I had the chance to befriend you.” Delilah sent him a wink.

“Oh no, I completely forgot about that. Stupid Shane and his stupid face,” Ryan said, a little louder than necessary.

Delilah decided not to comment on Ryan’s distressed tone. “Here’s my future girlfriend.” She held up her phone and the first thing Ryan noticed were her eyes. They really were as beautiful as Delilah said they were. She had pulled her brown hair into a messy bun and had an energetic look to her, even though she had only given the camera a tired smile. “See, isn’t she beautiful?”

“Yeah, I’ll have to agree with you on that,” Ryan said, forcing himself to look away from Emily’s picture. “So, what do you guys do out here for fun? I’m afraid Shane and I can't just stay inside all day,” Ryan asked, veering the subject away from relationships.

Surprisingly, Randal spoke up instead of Delilah. “Anything to do with the lake is always fun if you can stand the sun’s rays. Every Saturday night, us three plus whoever else wants to join usually go to Club Club, a bar down in Lionscrest. Don’t let the name fool you, it’s actually a really cool place.”

“Club Club? I’ll have to check it out.” Ryan made himself a mental note to remember to tell Shane about it.

“Oh! That reminds me, can I have your phone number?” Delilah piped in.

“Yeah, of course!” Ryan pulled out his phone once again and quickly exchanged numbers with the three siblings. It was at that time that Ryan remembered he never did reply to Shane’s text. He knew he didn’t have to recuperate the flirting, but he might as well.

_Honey, I miss you too, but I’m just out on the lake. If you want I bet Randal would dock the boat to let you onboard if you wanted to join._

Shane’s reply was almost instantaneous.

_:O omg you’d do that for me? I guess you do really love me_

Ryan sighed, of course Shane texted like a fourteen-year-old girl.

“Hey is it okay if Shane joins us? He’s been cooped up in the house all day … working,” Ryan fumbled to create a logical reason as to why Shane was in their house without straight out saying ‘my fake boyfriend has been working on an evidence board all morning because we’re cops’.

“Of course! What does Shane work as?” Randal asked, sounding generally curious as he started up the boat’s engine to go back to the dock.

Like every time in his life when he was unprepared, Ryan panicked. “Ah, he’s a stripper! No, no he’s not. I don’t know why I said that. He’s a … business dude. He does taxes and things like that,” Ryan replied, mentally kicking himself for not coming up with an answer beforehand.

“You mean an accountant?” Jake asked, looking amused with Ryan’s answer.

“Yeah, thank you, Jake. It’s a relatively new career, so I still get it mixed with his last career,” Ryan shrugged, trying to look as nonchalant as possible.

“His last career … as a stripper?” Delilah giggled.

Ryan bit his lip in embarrassment and nodded vigorously. “Yep, yeah, my boy was a stripper. He was a damn good one … if you catch my drift.”

As subtly as he could, Ryan shot Shane a text telling him he’s currently employed as an accountant and that he used to be a stripper. The reply Ryan got back was only three question marks in a row.

Not soon enough, Ryan could spot Shane on the shore, waving his noodle arms in greeting. He was wearing a navy blue Hawaiian shirt with pink flowers and what looked to be very short tan shorts. Ryan gulped at the sight of his mile-long legs on full display.

“That’s Shane? I know you said he was tall, I just didn’t expect _that_ ,” Delilah gawked, looking as though she was taking in Shane’s legs as well.

Randal quickly docked the boat and introduced himself and his siblings to Shane.

“There’s my guy.” Ryan reached out once Shane was safely on the boat, enveloping him in a big hug. “You look great by the way,” he whispered in Shane’s ear, needing to stand on his tiptoes to effectively reach his face.

“Babe not in front of them,” Shane blushed but still kissed Ryan’s cheek. 

Delilah looked like she was going to explode from the cute interaction. 

It wasn’t for another hour that Ryan could finally broach the subject of the murders that happened in House Sixteen.

“The Drechsler family? I barely knew them. Even though they’re our next-door neighbors, we didn’t talk much. That’s not to say they kept to themselves, we just didn’t have that much in common,” Randal shrugged, like the information he gave out wasn’t that important.

“I would only nod and smile to Clara and Megan, it was a lesbian respect nod. I always wanted to find someone who looked at me the way Clara and Megan looked at each other,” Delilah added with a sad droop of her shoulders.

“I babysat Nicolas once in a great while. He was a really good kid, he didn’t deserve to die so young.” Jake rocked side to side in his chair unconsciously, too overcome with the gruesome past to have a strong sense of the world around him.

“Do you know if any of them had enemies?” Shane asked softly.

“I don’t know why you want to know, but yeah, not everyone gets along with each other here. The real question is: did they have any enemies that would kill them? I don’t believe anyone in this town would do something like that. Mary Mora, who lives in House One with her husband John, wasn’t necessarily the biggest fan of Clara, but she would never hurt a fly. Mary is very nice, as long as you don’t annoy her too much. She has a short temper,” Delilah said. 

“Why didn’t Mary like Clara? Is she homophobic?” Ryan asked, trying to get a good read on Mary Mora.

“Not that I know of, though she was never friends with Jackson and Mark, the other gay couple, but I don’t know if it was because they’re gay or not. I wouldn’t be too cautious around her, but I also wouldn’t let your guard fully down. You never know when she might lash out.”

Shane nodded in thought, “Okay, good to know, thank you.”

Ryan let Shane lead the conversation as his mind drifted to how _right_ it felt to be sitting next to Shane, with the taller agent’s arm around his shoulders. Sometimes Shane would gesture with his hands and would nearly hit Ryan in the face, but he didn’t seem to mind.

It came very easy to him to act like he loved Shane and he wasn’t even the one that took an improv class. It should bother him more than it did, especially because he promised himself their relationship would stay a strong friendship, nothing more. The rational part of his brain knew if their case lasted for awhile, the lines between their fake relationship would blur and he would start to think of Shane as his _real_ boyfriend. 

He was suddenly extremely grateful that Ricky Goldsworth liked to slack off, because he couldn’t imagine having to be forced to act like he liked that asshole. He also really couldn’t imagine having to pretend to date anyone else in the office besides Shane. He guesses it’s because he’s always found Shane … interesting.

Ryan was too lost in his own mind to register the four pairs of eyes watching him until Shane squeezed his shoulder.

“Huh? What’re we talking about?” Ryan blinked rapidly, as if the action would help him focus.

“You, you dummy. I was just telling them about your previous job as a bear trainer in the zoo we used to live by,” Shane sent Ryan a smirk at his appalled face. “You just love those guys, don’t you? You don’t even care that they’re an apex predator or that they’re capable of attacking anyone at the drop of a hat.”

Ryan gave the group a tight smile. “Of course I love those fluffy guys. I don’t find them scary at all.”

Jake laughed. “Well that’s good, we’ve had a couple bears make a home here in the forest behind the town.”

“Oh really? That’s great!” Ryan’s voice broke halfway through, but he hoped no one noticed.

Shane gave him a smug look as to say _that’s what you get for telling them I was a stripper_ and Ryan couldn’t argue with that.

A smirk grew slowly on Ryan’s face. “Hey, while we’re on the subject of our past jobs, why don’t you tell them about the first night I came to watch one of your _shows_. It was really sexy when you spotted me in the crowd and fell off the stage. That was a great day for my ego.”

Shane shook his head in mock-embarrassment. “Ryan,” he whined. “I thought we agreed to never bring that up.”

“Or how about our one month anniversary when you made me a homemade card, but you spelt my name wrong. I don’t exactly remember how you spelt it, but you were super embarrassed when I broke the news to you,” Ryan paused. “Wait, honey, didn’t you get it wrong on the card cause, for the first month of our relationship, you didn’t know how to spell my last name and you were too embarrassed to ask?”

Shane hung his head to hide his smile. In reality, Shane didn’t figure out Ryan’s last name until their Director called Ryan up in front of the other agents in the middle of a meeting. Ryan was very tired that day, Shane remembers, and he looked as though he would have rather been in his bed face-down, than helping the Director with a presentation on crime rate and how it correlated with FBI involvement. Ryan could barely keep his eyes open during that meeting for he had foolishly stayed up the previous night going over his presentation notecards until six in the morning, even though he knew his alarm usually rang at six-thirty. The best part? The Director had taken one look at Ryan’s notecards and had given him a disappointed look. The notecards were immediately put in Ryan’s pocket to be later forgotten about until _after_ he washed his suit jacket that night.

“Baby, that’s rich coming from someone who signed their name wrong on their last credit card,” Shane grinned as he leveled his gaze with Ryan. “I didn’t know you changed your name to ‘Ryam Bergara’ until I saw it scrawled on the back of your card.”

“Cursive is hard!” Ryan pouted.

Randal snickered while checking his phone. “Oh shit, sorry to interrupt, but Jake did you get the email Susan just sent out to us? She says the bartender didn’t show up and she was hoping someone would take her shift. You’re the only other bartender, shouldn’t you volunteer?”

“I guess I will, tell Susan I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Sorry to cut the boat time short, but it’s been a good couple hours with all of you,” Jake gave an apologetic smile that somehow made him look five years younger. 

“It’s okay, I think I’m getting burnt anyway,” Shane said, leaning forward on the bench and inspecting his legs with a frown.

Ryan and Shane stuck around with Delilah and Randal by the dock until Jake was hurriedly leaving his house, shoes still untied.

After some mild discussion, Ryan decided that the next household they should meet, should be House One, the house of Mary and John Mora.

With Delilah and Randal long gone, the couple headed over to where Delilah had previously pointed out the Moras’ lakeside home.

Hand-in-hand, Ryan and Shane headed past one of the three weeping willow trees in the area, walked along the shoreline, past House Eleven, and finally ended up at House One’s back porch. Thinking it wouldn’t be neighborly of them if they knocked on their back door, the two headed around the house and, seeing lights on inside, rang the doorbell.

A dog’s bark echoed throughout the house. Ryan took a cautionary step backward and Shane squeezed his hand lightly.

The man that answered the door could rival Shane’s height. He loomed like a shadow behind the screen door, but then he gave them a bright smile and everything about his demeanor softened.

“Sorry about Dorothy, she’s still only a pup.” The chocolate lab barked in response. “I’m John, you two must be our new neighbors?”

“Yeah, nice to meet you. I’m Ryan and this is my partner Shane,” he gave John a wave with his free hand.

“Oh, where are my manners? Would you like to come in?” John swung open the screen door and stepped aside to let them in. “My wife, Mary, is upstairs in our room, I’ll go get her. Make yourselves comfortable!”

John whisked up the stairs and by the time Ryan had gotten his boots off, he was already walking down the stairs with his wife in tow. She was a petite brunette, with what looked like to be a scar on her right eyebrow. 

“Hey, I’m Mary.” After taking a glance at Ryan and Shane’s joined hands, she made sure to stick her hand out for a handshake, forcing Ryan to let go of Shane’s hand. She smiled brightly, her slightly chubby cheeks looked so kind, that Ryan forgot she’s most likely homophobic. “What brings you two to Pinepark?”

Shane gave her a smile and wrapped an arm around Ryan’s waist, noticing how her gaze flickered down to his hand now resting on Ryan’s hip before maintaining a neutral expression. “We decided to move in together for our five-year anniversary. Something about living in such a small town, after living in Minneapolis our whole lives, was compelling and then we found this place and fell in love with it!”

Mary gave them a questioning glance. “An entire household was just murdered, do you really think now was a good time to move in?”

“To be fair, we bought the house long before the murders, but the police are on it, right? Once they catch the men that did it, we’ll be safe,” Ryan shrugged nonchalantly.

“I guess, you’re right, Ryan,” Mary hummed. Ryan was only slightly confused that she knew his name, as they had just introduced themselves to John, but he figured John told her before they came downstairs. 

Ryan rocked on the balls of his feet. He could feel Mary’s stare piercing him as if she knew everything about him. He knew it was impossible for Mary to know they were undercover, but something about her eyes sent a shiver down Ryan’s spine.

“We were just about to have lunch, care to join us?” John asked. Mary shot a short glare her husband’s way, but then immediately gave them a sheepish smile. 

“No, we don’t want to overstay our welcome. It was nice meeting you!” Shane awkwardly bent down to put his shoes back on. Ryan did the same after pairing it with a shrug.

“Be carful on your way out. The McDowells in House Two are a rowdy bunch. There’s nine people squished into that two-story household, so they tend to spend a lot of time outside. They’re never out before lunch, so you might have a little time to escape unscathed,” Mary laughed as she pointed to the house across the dirt path. 

Shane made a noise of something between a grunt and a laugh. “Thank you for the heads up.” He straightened his back and grasped Ryan’s hand when he stuck it out for him to hold. “Oh, quick question before we leave. Since my boyfriend and I just moved in, we don’t really know about this place. We were wondering if you knew anything about the House Sixteen murders? We want to make sure we aren’t in any danger, especially when we were thinking about adopting sometime in the near future, after we get married of course.”

John’s body stiffened for the briefest of seconds. “We were only good friends with Cassandra. She never talked to us about any other members of her family, and Cassandra was the only one to make an effort to become friends with us. Now, that’s not to say the others weren’t friendly people, we just … never clicked with the others I guess,” John sighed. “On a happier note, I have a piece of advice for the two of you. Mary and I have been married for three months now and let me tell you, marriage is a wonderful thing. These three months have been the best months of my life. It may seem scary at first, but as long as you’re with the right person, it won't seem as daunting as everyone makes it seem.” When he shot a wink to the couple, Ryan blushed and looked to his feet, while Shane met John’s gaze and smiled.

“I do believe this little guy is the one, John,” Shane said like a love-struck fool.

“Shut up, Shane,” Ryan mumbled.

“You love when I talk, babe, you can't deny it,” Shane cooed. “He’s told me before that he likes the sound of my voice, and an elephant never forgets,” he said, giving another big smile to John and Mary. 

Shane let the silence stretch until Ryan tugged on his hand. “We should get going, it was nice meeting you two.” 

Ryan briskly turned and opened the door, dragging Shane with him. Once safely outside, the two could hear commotion within House One, it sounded like Mary’s voice was raised as she berated her husband. Ryan and Shane shared a look and slowed their pace

They pushed themselves up against the Moras’ house to try and stay hidden while they listened in.

_“What were you thinking, John? You should have stuck to our story, you could have just ruined everything for us,”_ Mary hissed, without realizing their dinning room window was cracked open ajar. 

Ryan was about to grab his phone to record what they were hearing, but as he looked over to Shane, he saw the older agent had already beaten him to it.

_“How would they have ever trusted us if I lied and said we didn’t know them and then they found out later that we were very close to Cassandra?”_ John asked, sounding furious.

_“They wouldn’t have cared. Why, do you think their undercover cops or something? I would think I’d be able to tell if they were cops or not,”_ Mary said matter-of-factly. Ryan furrowed his brow in confusion. He thought Mary knew about them, but her statement proves that she doesn’t. 

_“What are you talking about? How would you’ve known?”_

_“Never mind, John, that’s a story for a different time.”_

_“What are you hiding from me? Is there something I should know?”_ John sounded worried more than anything. Worried for himself or for his wife, it wasn’t clear.

Ryan and Shane weren’t sure if Mary responded to her husband or not, for their house was now silent. Shane ended his recording.

After sliding his phone back into his pocket, Shane was about to come out of their hiding spot and continue to walk home, but Ryan stayed put.

“Idiot, come here,” Ryan whispered, grabbing Shane’s Hawaiian shirt and dragging him closer. “Did you not hear a door open? It would look suspicious if we randomly stepped out now that their conversation’s over.”

Shane suddenly smelled the air. Someone was smoking outside. “What should we do? What if they come over here? How do we act natural?”

Ryan shook his head exasperatedly. “The best way to go unnoticed is to be aggressively making out. No one wants to see that, we’ll be invisible,” he gave Shane a look, but the man in question just stood there. “I have to do everything myself around here,” he sighed.

He tugged Shane even closer. Finally, the gears turned in Shane’s head and a leg slipped between Ryan’s. With Ryan successfully backed against the house, Shane encaged him in his arms.

When their lips touched after an agonizing few seconds, Ryan decided he wasn’t messing around. He never was much of a fan of foreplay.

Ryan kissed like it would be his last. His hands slowly slid down Shane’s torso to grab onto his hips. The rough fabric of Shane’s pants grazed Ryan’s fingertips as he moved his hands to the back of Shane’s shorts, letting his hands rest inside his boyfriend’s pockets. Shane groaned into Ryan’s mouth and pushed him more forcefully against the house.

A gasp escaped Ryan’s lips and he used all of the strength he could muster to flip their positions, crowding Shane against the wall and clinging to him like he would die if they split apart.

“Baby, _fuck_ ,” Shane sighed as he broke the kiss to get some well-needed air. His head hit the dark wood of the house behind him when Ryan trailed kisses down his throat. Shane’s hands, that he didn’t remember threading through Ryan’s hair, gestured frantically to his left, his eyes going wide.

“Ryan, stop,” he regretfully pushed Ryan away from himself to show him that while they were … distracted, they didn’t notice that the smell of cigarettes had disappeared and a child - who couldn’t have been more than fifteen years old - had appeared around the corner. 

The younger agent staggered farther away from Shane as if burnt. 

“Hello,” Shane gave the small boy a wave. “I’m Shane, and this is my boyfriend Ryan, what’s your name?”

“Paul McDowell,” the boy with bright blue eyes that were slightly obscured behind black square frames said. “Why are you two kissing back here?”

“I’m just as confused as you are, dude. We were just taking a walk and out of nowhere this little fella jumped me,” Shane laughed, making a cooing noise in Ryan’s general direction. 

Paul turned his head left and then right, as if checking to see if anyone was within earshot. “Do whatever you want, but I was just surprised to see two hot older men out near my house. It’s been a dream of mine for quite awhile,” the boy chuckled.

“You and me both, buddy,” Shane grinned.

There was a call in the distance and Paul instinctively looked back at his house. “Shit, I have to go, but I hope to see you both around.” Paul waved and scurried back to his house. 

When Ryan and Shane heard House Two’s front door close, they decided the coast was clear and Ryan let out a low embarrassed laugh. “I can’t believe we were caught by a child,” he shook his head.

Even with no one watching, Ryan reached out for Shane’s hand and he lightly laced their fingers together. The sun beat down on their backs, the pine trees providing little to no coverage, as they walked home hand-in-hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Tumblr is @ambientchunks in case you have any questions/wanna cry w/ me about the bois


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